


not who i was, only who i will be

by darkmillennium



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Caring Michael (Supernatural), Drabble, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Michael Possessing Adam Milligan, Minor Original Character(s), No Plot/Plotless, Nostalgia, POV Adam Milligan, Prompt Fic, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmillennium/pseuds/darkmillennium
Summary: Adam doesn’t mention how all the jumping around they’ve been doing, as per his own requests, feels more like a goodbye trip than anything—something to help him let go of the last traces of his old life, in a way that he couldn’t do in the Cage.—Based on the tumblr prompt: “Aquariums are great places for first dates, don’t you think?”“I’m sorry… do I know you?”“Nope! Now things are pretty awkward, huh?” + midam?
Relationships: Michael & Adam Milligan, Michael/Adam Milligan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 119





	not who i was, only who i will be

**Author's Note:**

> this one sort of wrote itself??? idk the prompt seems like an AU prompt but i just SUCK at those so here yall you get this one even though this is probably one of my stories that isn't gonna get a lot of attention

Adam had only wanted to visit his old university and take a peek around where he’d lived for a short period of his life. Really. That’s all he’d wanted. And then he remembered the aquarium nearby, where he’d once visited with a brief college girlfriend of his—Victoria Anderson, that’s what her name had been, Adam would be damned if he ever forgot the name of anyone he’d dated—and now he was staring through the glass at the display of a bunch of multicolored fish, admiring the patterns on their scales.

“You know,” Michael says, idly, “I could take you under the ocean, right? You could see the actual fish in their natural habitat.”

Adam grins at him. “I know. But this is about the _memories_ , not the fish.”

The archangel cocks an eyebrow, his lips slightly raised, and turns to stare at the fish along with Adam. “Nostalgia?”

“Yeah.” Adam doesn’t mention how all the jumping around they’ve been doing, as per his own requests, feels more like a goodbye trip than anything—something to help him let go of the last traces of his old life, in a way that he couldn’t do in the Cage.

He still hasn’t visited Windom yet, but...he’s getting there. He will, eventually. For now, though, this is enough. And Michael doesn’t seem to mind, which is a relief. He’s mostly just been eyeing humanity with a half-curious, half-lazy gaze, and it almost reminds Adam of a cat, funnily enough, perching up somewhere high and observing its household. 

...Does that analogy make _Adam_ the household? Or the Earth?

Actually, no, he’s going to stop that analogy right there and focus on the very pretty fish in front of him. 

Or, well, he was _going_ to, but there’s suddenly a woman standing to his right, and he’s got just enough time to think _Fuck, is this gonna be like the whole Lilith thing again?_ and _At least she didn’t go to my left, because then she would’ve walked right through Michael and that would’ve been weird,_ before the woman starts speaking.

“Aquariums are great places for first dates, don’t you think?” She looks nice enough, Adam thinks—she’s got sleek brown hair pulled into a bun, and a blue jacket layered over a black tank top. 

Adam feels Michael slowly unclench from where he’d tensed up behind him, and even though he himself had been able to identify that the woman was human, it was still reassuring to have a second opinion. He hadn’t had the ability to pick out supernatural beings for that long, after all. 

The fact of the matter, though, is that Adam hasn’t actually had any _real_ human contact since he’s been out of the Cage, aside from the waitress at the diner (the Winchesters did _not_ count) and his social skills aren’t exactly what they used to be. 

“I’m sorry…do I know you?” It’s so stupid to say something like that, and he _knows_ it, because he _doesn’t know her,_ but _also_ his mind has decided to pull a giant blank and he’s entirely unsure of what to do, now. 

“Nope! Now things are pretty awkward, huh?” she says, smiling, and Adam smiles back on reflex. “I’m Brittney. Nice to meet you! Do you go to Madison, too?” 

Madison, Adam belatedly remembers, is a nickname for the University of Wisconsin’s campus at Madison, which is where they’re currently at. Yeah. That’s it.

Holy _shit,_ he’s gotten bad at this. Michael’s gone suspiciously silent in his mind, and Adam wonders what _that’s_ about, if he’s just giving him privacy or if it’s for some other reason. 

“I’m, uh, Adam. Nice to meet you. Uh, no, I don’t.” _Not anymore,_ is what he doesn’t say.

“Cool, cool,” Brittney nods, and then her expression turns a little sheepish. “Sorry if I, like, bothered you or anything, I’m here with my friends—” she turns to point at two other girls, who look like they’re cooing over the jellyfish display, “—but I’m really sort of...third-wheeling them? And you looked a little lonely, over here, so I thought I’d give them a little space and come hang out.”

Adam smiles, at that, and he hesitantly begins to strike up a real conversation with a human for the first time since leaving the Cage. 

It could’ve gone better. It could’ve gone worse. He finds out Brittney is a sociology major, gives her the story of having to drop out from college for financial reason before telling her that he was a biology major with a pre-med emphasis, and they talk about the stress of exams—what Adam remembers of them, anyways—among other things, until Brittney’s friends finally call for her, threatening to leave if she doesn’t haul ass. She smiles and says a quick goodbye, telling him that it was nice talking to him before dashing out after them. 

Adam watches her go with an odd sense of finality—where it came from, he’s not sure. 

“Everyone seems smaller, somehow,” he says, to Michael, later, when they’re long gone from Wisconsin. “It’s like...I don’t know. They’re all living normal lives. They’re all so _young._ They have no idea what’s out there.” He’s lying flat on the bed of a motel room, and Michael’s sitting with his back propped up on the headboard, one hand gently resting on Adam’s hair, carding through it almost absentmindedly.

“You’re not the person you were when you were pulled into the Cage.” _You’re much older. Wiser. You’ve suffered more than they likely ever will in their lifetimes._

Adam hums in acknowledgement. “So are you.”

Michael smiles, softly, amusedly, and Adam doesn’t last long before he falls asleep under the stroking of his hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> comments are super appreciated!!! have a lovely day :)
> 
> my tumblr is @adammilligan!


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